Our Trip to Nashville, TN

This past Thursday we set off for Tennessee. David's mom has been planning on coming in to Nashville for some time now, and since we haven't seen her since November of 2006, we were excited to make the drive. Kari had to work on Thursday so instead of driving straight through we stopped in downtown Louisville for dinner and then drove a little further and rented a hotel room in Elizabethtown, Kentucky which was exactly the halfway point of our trip. We got up early Friday morning to get in to Nashville only to find out that they were an hour earlier. It sure would have been nice to have had that hour of sleep back. But we enjoyed a great breakfast at Cracker Barrel and then in no time we were in Nashville, TN.

Our first day was pretty planned out, but the weather was not quite as warm as we all were expecting or at least hoping for. We drove to a couple of tourist attractions. Our first stop was the farmers market where we were planning to eat lunch however the general consensus was we are definitely finding something else. So, we walked over to Bicentennial park for a short time and then headed off to Maggiano's for a delicious meal. From there we took a short trip to ancient Greece okay okay it was The Parthenon, in Nashville where we explored the sacred grounds of the goddess, Athena. What a sight. Incredible. Once Jed felt that he had enough pictures to explain every historical element of this structure we headed back to Jane's house. We ended the evening with a great dinner and spent the rest of the night in conversation catching up with one another.

What a great day Saturday was! We did absolutely nothing all day long! Some read, some gave lessons on saving pictures on the computer, we went on a walk, sat on the porch, slept in. It was great. Jane ran a few wedding errands as her son is getting married in the fall. Jed and his assistant, Stanley, were definitely not as lazy as most of us. They were slaving away in the kitchen all day long preparing a four course meal for all of us to enjoy.

This weekend felt like the holidays. We did not go without in the food department. Who would when the best chef's are practically your family! The meal was incredible. First we were served a shrimp appetizer with hollandaise sauce drizzled over the top. Then we were served our main course, Jasmine Pork with a sweet potato casserole and an apple-cranberry salad. It was out of this world. For dessert, we enjoyed home made chocolate ice cream with nuts toasted in cinnamon and clove. Yummy! We almost forgot to mention that we were surrounded by royalty, look at Princess Helen who graced us with her presence during dinner! David and I were also introduced to Jane's famous Fruit Tea this weekend, which was soooooo good. And yes we brought that recipe home to share with many others.

What a great trip!

We only wish we could have shared this weekend with our very own Command Sergent Major (Larry) and Mikey and Aaron!

I Think I Ordered "The Large!"

Around Christmas time our grocery store had these huge bones with big red bows around them, and I always wanted to get one just to see how Sota would react. Well, sometime towards the end of February they went on sale and I decided to get one for her and to my surprise, it is her second favorite toy next to her squeaky fire hydrant, which I can't stand. She thinks that squeaky thing is her baby or something and feels as if she needs to pamper it at all times. This bone is 22 inches long and weighs a good pound or so. It makes a real good thud too, just ask the downstairs neighbors. She runs with this thing like its only 6 inches long and somehow manages to jump up on the couch with it in her mouth like it's nothing at all. She has a little trouble with doorways at times, but still finds a way to drag it through if she needs to. So, as that big thing swings around every five minutes and hits me in the foot, I guess the joke is on me.This one's for you Dad!

Easter Weekend!

Well stupid me, left my camera at home, so I have no pictures from Easter weekend. What a bummer. David and I spent Easter weekend with my family in Terre Haute and it was freezing! So much for taking pictures of my nieces and nephews in their Easter attire. They all still looked very cute but we were all definitely dressing for winter! We left for Terre Haute on Friday after I wrapped up a visit with one of the kids on my caseload. Shortly after we got to Terre Haute we went and saw Meet the Robinsons, what a fun movie! Late that night we had found out that our good friend Sara had finally given birth to a little boy named Luke! We are so happy for the Trombley family! He is so cute, I can't wait to meet him. On Saturday we froze our butts off at an Easter Egg Hunt, and then I went to my parents house to start cooking a Mexican Fiesta for everyone. David made his famous home made tortilla chips and I made my chicken and cheese enchiladas that my family seems to love! Of course we had to add some Tastefully Simple stuff in there so for dessert we had some cinnamon muffin melts, yummy! Sunday we all went to Church and had a really good service, then we came home to fill up on all of our Easter Sunday favorites...ham, scallop potatoes, devilled eggs, I won't type anymore than you guys will know that I ate way too much this weekend! Shortly after dinner we packed things up and headed back to Carmel, IN to get a few hours at home before the week started back up! David's family enjoyed their Easter weekend out on a boat with much warmer weather than us here in Indiana. We wish we would have been able to spend time with them this weekend as well, we miss them!

Our Favorite Day of the Week

Sota chasing a stick down the river. She gave up eventually!

Just The Two of Us!

Sunday's have truly become one of our most favorite days of the week and this Sunday was no exception. This past week was a busy one for the two of us. David had the awesome opportunity to oversee a group who chose to spend their college spring break working on the Teen Challenge Men's Center in Terre Haute, IN. The group was from Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio and they were amazing. They were such a blessing to have at the center and the work that they did there is so appreciated. I got to spend one day with them, but as many of you know my heart would have been to be with my husband and this team for the entire 4 days that they were here.

It was a challenging week for me as I continue to work with the Department of Child Services, the families that I work with and the sad scenarios that are ran by me are emotionally draining and becoming way too common of an occurrence, in my book! I was so relieved when David came home on Thursday, there is just a peace that surrounded me when he was back home, I don't know how our Soldier's families live day after day without their loved ones at home with them. My home just didn't feel like home with out both of us here.

I also had a Tastefully Simple Party this past Tuesday evening, and then David helped me put on an Open House at our Apartment Complex Saturday morning, he is so good to me! Needless to say we were excited for Saturday afternoon to roll around to just have some down time. David took a couple naps throughout the afternoon and swore that he could have slept all day if I would have let him. We were blessed to have been able to spend some of our evening with our friends Sara and JC who are expecting their first little one in just about a week!

And then we have Sunday...This morning we attended our Sunday morning church service at Eagle Creek Assembly of God and were both completely touched and rejuvenated emotionally and spiritually. We ran in to an old friend who visited our church this morning which was great.

After lunch we went to another park in Carmel to walk Sota and explore God's beautiful creation. Sunday has become our ultimate family day, church in the morning, lunch, and a great afternoon with our little girl Sota at various parks. We usually play a game or watch a movie, and then of course we are committed Home Extreme Makeover watchers, this show always puts a tear in my eye which David continues to be amazed by, he thinks it is so funny that I get so emotionally worked up over something I am watching or reading. We also have to see who Mr. Trump chooses to fire on the Apprentice which comes on Sunday evenings as well. We usually read or work on our blog before we call it a night. The only bad thing about our Sunday routine is that when it ends the week begins and we have to wait 7 more days to get back to our most favorite day! We hope that all of you enjoyed your Sunday as much as we always enjoy ours. We hope that you enjoy the pictures from our day at the park.

Our Newest Cousin!

For those of you who are not privileged enough to have received over 500 e-mails last year with pictures of this little guy, here he is! Joseph Giles. My Uncle Jerry and his wife, LeiAnn live in Hawaii. As you can see, he is already turning into a little surfer dude!

He is too cool for words, just hanging out on the beach.
Although we have not yet been able to meet him, we see him daily through pictures and have been able to watch him grow over the past year.

Happy Birthday Joseph! Wish we were there with all of you.